benazir's blog

Meat With Vegetables And Nuts

Actually I have came up with this recipe today. I remember there is one store that was owned by some people from Jordan. I bought a couple of my burqas from there and they were really nice people and it was right in the same building as MCC which is an accronym for Muslim Community Center. It is the masjid I go to here in Chicago.

This was a very long time ago and they had in there some chicken with pistachios and cooked in olive oil and it tasted so yummy. They invited me to try it and I tasted it and it was delicious. I have came up with my own and this is how I did it.

Add to the slow cooker or instant pot 1/4 cup of olive oil, grapeseed oil or sunflower oil. Add your meat of choice which is either 1 lb of either chicken, lamb, goat or veal. Add 1/4 cup of vegetables of any type rough chopped. It can be carrots, eggplant, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans. okra, zucchini, Italian yellow squash, turnips, rutabega, parsnips, leeks, peas, kale, spinach, radishes or even beets.

Add 1 handful of either pistachios, almonds, pine nuts or even sunflower seeds which all have the shells removed, Just buy these shelled raw nuts that I have just mentioned.

In mortar and pestle add 1 broken piece of cinnamon stick, 4 allspice berries, 2 cloves, 1 pinch each of cumin seeds, kalounji, peppercorns and fenugreek seeds to grind then add to the cooker on top of meat vegetables and nuts,

Add either 1 pinch of either melissa officinalis which is the botanical name for lemon balm. ground citrus peel or 1 small piece of dried lime. The dried lime gets ground in mortar and pestle too if you are using. It can be obtained from any Middle Eastern grocry store.

Add 1 pinch each of sumac, basil, oregeno, thyme, red pepper flakes, mint, parsley, turmeric powder, 1 sage leaf crumbled. Add either 3 dashes of seasoned salt, 1 pinch of sea salt, pink salt, kosher salt, or vegtea seasoning. You can also use 1 pinch of bullion powder or 1 bullion cube in its place, 1 capful of lemon juice, 3 dashes of balsamic or grape vinegar, 3 dashes of maggi or knorr aroma. Add 2 pinches of Shan meat tenderizer. You can buy this at any Indian and Pakistani grocery store.

Take 1 sheet of aluminum foil to make a tight seal around the cooker itself. Place on top and make sure yout condensation collector is in place if you are using a multi functional cooker. Place the glass lid over the cooker itself that is compatable with your cooker. I set my instant pot for slow cook on high for 3 1/2 hours. If using a regular slow cooker then you have to set the timer for an hour 3 times and once for 1/2 hour.

Serve this with the drink from my previous post some laban as it said in Arabic, ayran as it is called in Turkish or lassi as it is called in Urdu plus some yummy tabouleh on the side too makes a wonderful meal or eat it with Khubs. Bel hena.

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